Blood Feud

by Heather MacKinnon

  Things I’d had to fight really hard to feel at all.

  He continued to approach me cautiously, almost like he was ready to chase me if I ran. But I wasn’t running anywhere.

  I was going to show this bastard what happened when you messed with the wrong woman. When you stopped being at the top of the food chain. When you weren’t as strong and invincible as you thought you were.

  “There now.” He stepped into my space, the heavy scent of nicotine hanging from his clothes. “You’re not going to give me any trouble, are you?” he asked, his hot breath blowing into my face and making me feel nauseous for the first time in a hundred years.

  “Oh, I plan to give you plenty of trouble,” I said.

  He frowned as he wrapped a meaty hand around my bicep. “What the fuck did you just say?”

  I rolled my eyes, yanked my arm out of his hold and gave him a shove. He stumbled backward, his dark eyes widening. “I said, I plan to give you plenty of trouble. Are you hard of hearing?”

  He regained his balance and his face fell. Gone was the tentative excitement. Now, he was all hard lines and grim features, and I welcomed it.

  I’d rather see that asshole for who he really was and not the mask he wore.

  “Listen, bitch. I don’t want to hurt you if I don’t have to.”

  Fucking liar.

  I could see it in his eyes that just the thought of causing me pain thrilled him. It was there in the manic gleam in his gaze. He liked to hurt people, and I was his next target.

  Too bad for him.

  “See, that’s where we differ,” I said as I crept closer to him. “You lie when you say you don’t want to hurt me, but I’m telling the truth when I say I can’t wait to cause you pain.”

  He jerked backward like I’d already slapped him. “What the fuck?”

  Man, he was violent and stupid. A dangerous combination.

  I stepped into range of his thick arms, and just like I expected, he grabbed for me. He probably thought he was being quick, and I’d have no time to react, but I was a vampire. I noticed the moment his hands twitched into motion and had plenty of time to get out of the way.

  But I didn’t.

  I let him dig his dirty fingers into my waist and drag me closer, exactly like I knew he would. He pulled me into his chest, and I used the momentum to swing my knee into his crotch. I heard something crunch as he let me go and fell to the ground.

  “You fucking bitch,” he wheezed, his hands cupping his family jewels.

  I shrugged. “You started it.”

  A loud yell from behind had me spinning to find Ashton still holding his own with the other two men. Unfortunately, it was clear to everyone but the asshole on the ground that he was losing.

  I watched in fascination as he ducked and weaved in between the two men. Blood was still pouring down his face, but it didn’t seem to slow him at all. It was almost beautiful the way he moved. Like he was so in tune with his own body that every motion was calculated and performed just the way he’d intended.

  It was mesmerizing.

  Which was why I hadn’t noticed the dickhead in the background get up.

  A thick arm wrapped around my neck from behind seconds before his rancid breath was in my ear. “You’re gonna be sorry you did that, bitch.”

  That old terror was there and gone in a flash. It seemed it didn’t matter how many decades separated me from the worst night of my life. I couldn’t make the fear go away completely, and that just pissed me off more.

  I slammed my fist into his face just over my shoulder, instantly smelling blood. Ducking out of his hold, I spun around and kicked him in the gut. He went flying across the room and slammed into the marble wall.

  I stalked forward, my hands in tight fists. The man struggled to catch his breath as he watched me corner him, his eyes wide.

  “What the hell, bitch? How the fuck did you do that?”

  I shrugged. “I’m a vampire.”

  He frowned until I smiled, and he got a look at my fangs. His eyes were wide with fear, and I reveled in it. But another grunt from behind reminded me I had other things to do besides make this guy wet his pants.

  So, I surged forward and dug my teeth into his neck. I wasn’t gentle, and he cried out in pain above me. But I didn’t listen. I just kept drinking his disgusting blood. It coursed down my throat, thick and vile, but I still drank it.

  Because it made me stronger while making him weaker, and that was no less than he deserved.

  Slowly, his hits turned feeble and his voice hoarse until he was still in my arms. I kept sucking on his wounds until there was nothing left, and then I let him fall to the ground at my feet. I took one more second to kick him in the face before sprinting across the lobby toward Ashton.

  I grabbed the first man I could reach and threw him over my head. His body made a loud crash somewhere behind me, but I ignored it. Because the second guy was sitting on Ashton’s chest, pummeling his face with hits, and every one felt like a blow to my chest.

  I grabbed him by the neck and ripped him off Ashton with one yank. Without him on top of the bodyguard, I could see how bad his injuries were.

  Ashton’s face was so swollen I couldn’t even see his eyes. Blood ran from his mouth and nose, which looked irreparably broken. My heart clenched in my chest as he laid there motionless. I could still hear his pulse though, so I knew he wasn’t dead.

  I shook the man I’d just pulled off Ashton, my hand tightening around his throat. “Look what you did to him,” I said, my voice deep and dangerous.

  The man tried to claw his way out of my hold, but it was useless. He wasn’t going anywhere. “That’s the last person you’ll ever hurt,” I promised.

  I yanked him toward my fangs and dug in. Sucking hard, I drained this asshole even faster than the last, knowing I needed to help Ashton. When he was empty of blood, I let him fall to the ground and spun back around.

  I hurried to Ashton and knelt at his side. My hands fluttered uselessly above him, not knowing where to start.

  “Millie?” he croaked through his bleeding lips.

  “Yes,” I whispered, my heart hammering in my throat. “I’m right here.”

  He turned toward the sound of my voice and let out a deep breath. It morphed into a vicious cough that I was powerless to stop. When he finally settled back down, he said, “You’re okay?”

  The warmth started out small. Just one single point of heat in my chest, but as I sat there, it grew.

  This man just met me.

  This man just had his ass kicked.

  This man was worried about me above anything else.

  It left me speechless.

  I crawled closer and picked up his hand. “Yes. I’m fine. I’m right here. I’m going to help you.”

  He coughed again before shaking his head. “I’m fine,” he whispered, his lips turning white as he pressed them tightly together.

  I peeled his untucked shirt away from his abdomen and watched the bruises spreading across his skin. He was bleeding internally, and if I didn’t do something quickly, he wasn’t going to make it.

  And that just wasn’t acceptable.

  I leaned in close, ignoring the way the smell of his blood cramped my stomach. I was more than full and shouldn’t have even cared that he was bleeding, but it smelled so good.

  I grit my teeth and squeezed my eyes closed. “I can help you, but you have to trust me,” I said.

  Ashton coughed again. “No ambulance. I don’t have insurance.”

  I opened my eyes and laughed. “No. No ambulance.” I bit into my wrist and pressed it against his busted lips. “Here. Drink.”

  He jerked his head away. “What is it?” he breathed, his voice growing weaker.

  I hesitated.

  It was clear he knew something about my world if he knew Alexander Hausle, but how much? He knew what glamour was, but did he really know what we were? Humans weren’t allowed to know unless they were set to be changed, but that didn’t se
em to be the case here.

  I tried pushing my wrist toward him again. “Just drink. It’ll make you feel better.”

  He cracked an eye open just a slit to look down at my bleeding wrist. “Is that blood?”

  My insides snarled as I warred with what to do. He needed this, or he wasn’t going to make it much longer. I knew that for a fact. But I also had a feeling if I didn’t tell him the truth, he wouldn’t let me help him.

  I sighed. “Yes, it’s blood. It’ll heal you. Just, please, drink it.”

  I was watching him fade before my eyes. The longer he laid there, with the blood seeping from whatever organ had been ruptured, the closer he crept to death.

  And further from me.

  I didn’t know why I felt the strange connection to this human, but I did. And I wasn’t going to let him die.

  My wounds had already healed, so I bit into my wrist again and held it out to him. “Listen, you’re in bad shape and you don’t have much time left. Believe me when I say my blood will help and just drink. Please.”

  He laid there and stared at me, his eyes too swollen for me to even see their color, but I felt their weight. Finally, he nodded. “Okay.”

  I held my arm out to him again and this time he opened his mouth. The first drop fell on his tongue and he swallowed it quickly. When his lips sealed around the holes in my wrist, I breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

  He was drinking.

  He was going to be okay.

  Ashton wrapped his hand around my arm, his so much bigger it engulfed me. He pulled me toward him, and my heart leapt in my chest.

  I watched closely as he drank, and the blood stopped dripping from his nose and mouth. Next, the bruises slowly started to fade, and his nose straightened out. As I stared, the swelling around his eyes lessened until I could finally see them.

  And they were aimed right at me.

  Their color was indistinct. Some mixture of blue and gray that I was sure changed regularly. They were stunning, and they seemed to stare right into me. Straight down to the core of my being where all my dreams and nightmares swirled together.

  His gaze seared right through me, and I was helpless to fight it.

  Helpless, but also unwilling.

  I hadn’t felt this drawn to someone in a very long time. Maybe ever. It made my stomach twist into knots and my hands shake as I got lost in his gaze.

  In a move I hadn’t anticipated, Ashton wrapped his free arm around my waist and tugged me onto his lap. The next instant, he was sitting straight up, his hard body pressed against my heaving chest with no room between us.

  I felt the stirring deep inside me. The heat between my legs stoked as I sat there, pressed up against the bulge in his pants.

  Ashton sucked harder on my arm and I moaned. His eyes were bright with a fire I wanted to let consume me as I pushed harder against him.

  My fangs ached in my gums even though I’d just drank enough to last me a week. It didn’t matter. I wanted to taste Ashton. To pull him inside me. To connect us in a way I hadn’t ever experienced with a man.

  Just when I thought I had control over my urges, Ashton’s hips jerked upward, pushing his hard length against me in such a delicious way I couldn’t help myself.

  I dug my head into the curve of his neck and gently slid my fangs into his skin. This was gentler and more subtle than the way I’d drank from those other men for a reason. A vampire’s bite didn’t have to be painful if we didn’t want it to be, and right now, that was the last thing on my mind.

  Ashton gasped loudly around my wrist before sucking harder, spurring me on. My hips rotated on his lap while I sipped on his blood. After the disgusting men I’d just filled up on, Ashton was like a delicacy.

  He pulled his mouth off my wrist and instead buried it in my neck. His warm lips kissed and licked their way to the collar of my borrowed suit. Seconds later, his hands were busy unzipping my coveralls and pulling them down my shoulders. I only had a thin camisole on underneath, and he groaned in appreciation.

  Ashton filled his hands with my breasts as I ground my hips into him harder, chasing this rush as far as I had to.

  “Fuck, you’re stunning,” he growled as he nibbled on the hardened nipple protruding through my shirt.

  I moaned again when he pulled it into his hot mouth, the ache between my legs becoming unbearable. With quick but shaking fingers, I unbuttoned his dress shirt and pulled it off him, revealing broad shoulders and corded muscles that I immediately began exploring.

  Ashton dragged the hem of my tank up and I reluctantly pulled my teeth from his neck so he could yank it over my head. When it was off, he looked at me, his light brows furrowing. He reached out and rubbed the corner of my mouth. When he pulled his thumb back, there was a drop of blood on it.

  I froze on his lap, wondering what he’d do now.

  I’d never drank from a human who knew what I was doing before, and I had no idea how he’d react. I was afraid whatever was about to happen between us was over when he shocked the hell out of me.

  Ashton held out his thumb in front of my face. I opened my lips and licked the pad of his finger. His eyes burned hotter as I pulled it into mouth and sucked.

  “Fuck.”

  His deep voice vibrated right through me and I shivered in his lap. He took his thumb from my mouth and wrapped that hand around the back of my neck before pulling me to his lips.

  This kiss was catastrophic.

  It blasted through my walls, raced past my barriers and laid every rational thought to waste. It was decadent and luxurious, and I lost myself in someone for the first time in my entire life.

  I was vulnerable.

  I was exposed.

  I was his.

  Ashton’s strong hands pulled the rest of my clothes off and soon I was naked on his lap. My shaking fingers found his zipper and pulled it down before reaching inside for him.

  I wrapped my hand around his length as Ashton hissed against my chest. I squeezed him tight and his hips jerked against me.

  He grasped my chin and turned me to face him. “I want you.”

  I stared into his steely gaze as my stomach rioted and my heart pounded irregularly. All I could do was nod. That was the only confirmation I could give him of how badly I wanted him too in that moment.

  His eyes lit with appreciation before they shuddered just as quickly and he turned to curse. “I don’t have a condom,” he muttered.

  I laughed. “You don’t need one.”

  He turned back to me, brows creased. “What?”

  I crept forward on his lap and rubbed my wet slit against his hard dick. He hissed again, the fire in his gaze back and hotter than before.

  “You don’t need a condom with me, I promise.” When he still didn’t seem convinced, I added, “Trust me.”

  I don’t know why, but I saw the moment those words meant something to him. His gaze cleared of the worry and filled with heat. He grabbed my rotating hips and held them still as he slowly slid into me.

  Ashton filled me in a way I’d never felt before as I bottomed out on his lap. His fingers dug into my ass as he held me still while we both adjusted.

  Without warning, he flipped us over and laid me down on the cool marble. His hands captured both of mine and raised them above my head as he started moving slowly. Just a small push here, a little flex of his hips, but it was enough to make me moan.

  “You like that?” he said, his thrusts becoming harder and his voice deeper.

  I nodded quickly as he twisted his hips, pressing into me again, and another moan tore up my throat. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he grunted in approval. He left one hand holding my wrists while the other explored my body. From my ass to my waist to my breasts, up to my jaw where he cupped my face and brought it to his for a kiss.

  His mouth tasted like my blood and it only fanned the flames. I gasped when he wrenched his lips away from mine and flipped us back over until I was on his lap again with him beneath me.

&nbs
p; “Fuck me, beautiful.”

  The butterflies flapped like birds of prey inside my chest as I started to move. Ashton wrapped his hands around my hips, lifting me higher off him and slamming me back down harder.

  “I can feel you’re close,” he said between gritted teeth.

  All I could do was nod.

  He dug his fingers into my skin and slammed himself into me. Once. Twice. Three times was all it took before I shattered into pieces on his lap.

  I screamed as my orgasm tore loose, washing up over me as wave after wave of pleasure crashed through my body. I was panting and shaking as I slowly came down, my limbs like noodles as I collapsed on his chest.

  Ashton’s hands dug into my ginger hair as he held my head against him. “You looked so fucking stunning when you came,” he murmured against my head.

  I curled my face into his chest as I felt it heat with a blush. For fuck’s sake, I was over a hundred years old, and somehow, this guy still had the power to make me blush.

  I had this feeling, deep inside me, that we’d just started something. I just didn’t know what.

  Chapter 3

  Ashton

  “Holy shit,” I whispered as I tried to catch my breath.

  I still had Millie on my lap, her hot little body wrapped around my cock, and I had no plans to move anytime soon. She giggled and my dick twitched inside her, already growing hard again.

  “That was… intense,” she said, her voice breathy.

  I dug my hand back into her soft hair, letting the strands slip through my fingers one by one. “That was incredible.”

  She giggled again, and I was honestly almost ready for round two. Millie pulled away from my chest and looked up at me, her green eyes leaving me fucking breathless.

  “Your face looks better. How do you feel?”

  I frowned as I realized my eyes weren’t swollen anymore and I could actually see through them. With my free hand, I felt for the injuries I knew I’d sustained to my face, but they were all gone.

  “What the fuck?” I whispered.

  Millie’s eyes turned guarded as she looked at me. “It’s my blood,” she said softly. Almost hesitantly.